Olympus PEN E-P5

The PEN E-P5 is a compact mirrorless camera from 2013 built around the Micro Four Thirds system. Its 122 x 69 x 37 mm body and 420 g weight make it genuinely small for a camera that takes interchangeable lenses.

That suits photographers who want a light everyday camera for street, travel and family work without a large kit. Its Micro 4/3 mount accepts lenses from across the Micro Four Thirds system.

Living with it means composing on the rear screen, because no viewfinder is fitted. The 330-shot battery rating is on the low side, so a spare battery belongs in the bag on longer days out.

The 16.1 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor handles everyday prints and web sharing comfortably. Sensitivity spans ISO 200 to 25600, giving a broad range of settings when light falls, while a TruePic VI processor manages the imaging pipeline.

The 1/8000 top shutter speed gives headroom to keep the aperture wide in bright light, where a slower maximum would force you to stop down.

In-body stabilisation is the standout here. It counters camera shake with any lens you mount, which helps handheld frames stay sharp indoors and at dusk, when shutter speeds lengthen.

A maximum 9 fps burst rate covers brief action moments, and 35 autofocus points give the camera plenty of places to lock on. Its modest Optics score places the camera around the middle of cameras in our database for Optics.

Video recording tops out at Full HD resolution, with a maximum frame rate of 30 fps. That is enough for standard full-motion clips for family footage, events and web publishing, but there is no 4K option if you need extra resolution for cropping or large screens.

The in-body stabilisation also applies to footage, reducing camera shake so handheld clips hold steadier at awkward angles. For casual shooting that reduces the need for a separate stabiliser rig.

Built-in timelapse recording lets you create motion sequences from still frames without extra gear. Recordings are saved as MOV or AVI files.

The modest Video score reflects these boundaries rather than a broken feature. For a 2013 camera, Full HD clips with stabilisation and timelapse remain useful, provided 4K is not on your requirements list.

The 3 inch LCD is the heart of using this camera, since there is no viewfinder. With just over a million dots it is sharp enough to judge focus, and the touchscreen lets you place focus with a tap while live view shows the scene as it will be captured.

Light is covered both ways. A built-in flash gives quick fill light indoors, and support for an external flash lets you add stronger, better-placed light when the small unit is not enough.

Built-in Wi-Fi gives the camera a wireless connection, while Bluetooth is absent. There is no built-in GPS, so location tagging is not handled by the camera itself.

The modest Features score reflects the points lost to absent weather sealing and Bluetooth. The fixed screen is a separate practical limitation, since high and low angles mean guesswork, and care is needed in rain or dust.

Photographs go onto a single SD, SDHC or SDXC card, so there is no in-camera backup of important shoots. For work you cannot repeat, plan to copy files elsewhere once the shoot is over.

The BLN-2 battery is rated at 330 shots, a specification figure rather than a guarantee of real-world endurance. Since composition relies on the rear screen, a charged spare is a sensible precaution for longer sessions.

There is no USB charging, so the battery cannot be topped up from a laptop or power bank between shoots. Factor charging time into your plans for longer days out.

The limited Storage & Battery score of 21 comes from this combination: one card slot, a modest rating and no USB charging. None of it stops the camera working well, but all three shape how you plan a shoot.